Brandi Wood, a young woman from Lakeside, California, is a pretty normal mom. She loves her twins, her husband — and her cell phone. One day, she was at home with her then four-year-old sons, Blaine and Rylie, when she decided to try a little experiment to see the influence of technology in her family’s life.
«Today, I did a little experiment while watching my boys play. I was sitting quietly in the corner and paid attention to how many times they looked up at me while they were playing. They would look over for a few different reasons. Sometimes they wanted to show me a trick — did I give them a warning or was I excited? Sometimes they just wanted to test my reaction. I wrote down how many times I got these glances.»
After counting, she came to a bitter realization. «I wondered what would have happened if I had been looking at my phone like I usually am.» She looked at her list and noticed that the two boys sought her attention 28 times in a short amount of time.
Of course we had to stop here. With Blaine and Rylie Wood.
Posted by Shinene Basore Johnson on Montag, 16. November 2015
Brandi continued:
«28 times they would have asked themselves, what on the internet was so much more important than us. 28 times my boys wouldn’t have received my attention when they were looking for it. 28 times my love would have been put into question, leaving them feeling emotionally ignored. 28 times I would show them that real life happens online.»
Then she wrote an important appeal, «in a world where we are only accepted on the basis of our online appearance, and not who we really are; in a world where likes and followers count more than real friends. In this world, time spent together is giving way to the isolation of sending a text message from one side of the room to the other. I ask you to please take time for your kids! They need you and if you waste loads of time on the internet, you never know who is watching you, and what kind of signal you’re sending.»
Wow. What a powerful statement. The post went viral and many learned an important lesson from Brandi’s experiment. Nothing on the internet is more important than teaching your kids by example, and sharing time with them!
